


dinah

by laurenjauregui



Series: you make me sick (for being so perfect) deleted scenes [2]
Category: Fifth Harmony (Band)
Genre: F/F, autistic!lauren, exploration of ymms lauren and dinah's friendship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-23
Updated: 2017-03-23
Packaged: 2018-10-09 17:42:30
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,727
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10417674
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/laurenjauregui/pseuds/laurenjauregui
Summary: Dinah isn't sure she likes the new girl.





	

**Author's Note:**

> trigger warning for ableist slurs

Dinah isn’t sure she likes this new girl.

She’s weird. She doesn’t ever talk, not really, and she won’t let go of her stupid stuffed Nala. Dinah thinks that’s strange, because even though she has her Simba, and she sleeps with him every night, she doesn’t bring him to school, not now she’s in second grade.

And, this weird Lauren girl is taking Normani away from her, and she doesn’t like that at all.

A few days after meeting Lauren, Normani is off sick, because she caught a cold, and Dinah misses her best friend. When she sees Lauren sat in the reading corner by herself, she decides it’s the perfect opportunity, and sits down in front of her.

Lauren puts her book down when she notices another person, and glances up for a moment. “Hallo.”

“It’s _hello_ , stupid,” Dinah rolls her eyes, “I don’t like you, and I want you to stay away from Mani. She’s _my_ best friend.”

“Um,” Lauren stares down at her feet. “I- I sorry. Manibear- um, nice!”

“Yeah, I know she’s nice, and her name is _Normani_ , not Manibear,” Dinah glares at her. Only _she’s_ allowed to give her best friend nicknames. Not the weird girl. “I think you’re weird, you know. Nobody brings a stuffed toy to school anymore.”

When Dinah goes to grab the stuffed Nala, Lauren smacks her hand away and shakes her head.

 _“Mine! No touch!”_ She practically screeches. _“Mine!”_

Dinah backs away a little, not sure if the girl is going to hit her. She doesn’t want to be hit. “Freak.”

Lauren freezes at the word and shakes her head quickly, pulling her Nala to her chest. “No.”

“You are!” Dinah argues, staring at her. This girl is _really_ weird, and she decides that she wants her away from Normani. “Stay away from me and my friends, okay? I don’t want you here. Nobody does.”

“Manibear friend,” Lauren replies, quieter this time. “Nice.”

“Oh my god, why do you talk like a baby?” Dinah rolls her eyes. “You’re so weird. Talk normal, like me. You’re like, seven. Talk like a grown up, not like a baby.”

“No baby,” Lauren shakes her head quickly and looks up at Dinah for a second. Dinah can see that there’s tears glistening in the girl’s emerald eyes. “Not- not bad. No baby.”

“Just stay away from my friends, okay?” Dinah stands up with a frown. “Freak.”

With that, Dinah leaves the other girl crying in the reading corner, feeling a little bad when she hears Lauren still sniffling when it’s time for lunch.

-

“Dinah,” Ally nudges her when she meets up with her for a little while at lunch. “Lauren told me you were mean.”

“I don’t like her!” Dinah quickly argues. “She’s a weirdo. She can’t even talk, why does she talk like a baby and why is she so weird? I don’t get it. I want her to go away.”

“That’s not nice,” Ally scolds her. “Lauren can’t help it.”

Dinah scowls. “Yes she can. It’s not hard to talk normal.”

“It might be for her,” Ally sits her down and Dinah scowls. “You know the other school? Down the road. The one all the, uh, special kids go to?”

“The ones that are different from us? Like, dis-disabled? Is that the word, I don’t know.” Dinah asks, and Ally nods. “What about it?”

“Lauren came from there,” Ally explains. “Obviously we don’t know what’s different about her, but imagine how hard it must be for her. Not being like us. People are way more likely to bully her and stuff.”

“You mean…” Dinah frowns to herself, “she’s like… she’s different? Like those kids at the other school?”

“Yes,” Ally confirms, “that’s why she doesn’t talk much. But she’s really sweet, and I think you two would like each other. You like _The Lion King,_ and so does she.”

Dinah shrugs. “She’s stealing Mani from me.”

“So that’s why you don’t like her,” Ally answers, “You’re jealous.”

“I’m- I’m not jealous.” Dinah pouts. “I’m just… Mani’s been my best friend forever. I don’t want her to go away.”

“She won’t,” Ally assures her. “Mani can have more than one best friend, you know? Lauren could be your best friend, too.”

Dinah shrugs. “I don’t- I don’t want her to be my friend.”

“Be nice to her,” Ally instructs. “You really frightened her, I think. She was shaking.”

Dinah’s stomach drops at Ally’s words, but she tries not to listen. “I’m going to go outside.”

Before Ally can protest, Dinah has run out of the lunch hall and out into the playground, thankful that her friend isn’t following her. She feels like Ally is mad at her, but she also feels bad. If Lauren is different, and she was mean, maybe Normani would be mad at her, and Dinah really hates when Normani is mad. She doesn’t like fighting with her best friend.

Whatever. She still doesn’t have to be friends with the freak.

-

Normani is back at school the next day, but Dinah doesn’t get any alone time with her, because Lauren is constantly following them around. Normani always smiles when she sees her, and calls it ‘cute’ that Lauren wants to be around them so much.

When they have break time and Dinah runs outside to the playground, it takes her a few moments to realise that Normani isn’t following her like usual. She heads back into the classroom to investigate – maybe Normani was asked to help tidy by their teacher – but instead, she sees Normani sat in the reading corner with Lauren, both of them huddled over a book.

Dinah scowls, and as she approaches, she hears Normani say, “Good! What about the whole sentence, though? Try reading that out loud.”

Lauren is silent for a few moments, until she stutters out, “I- I- um, ‘ove you… you _dis_ m-much!”

“You’re really smart, Laur,” Normani comments, and Dinah scowls. She already has a _nickname_ for her? That’s not okay, because she’s not letting some freak steal her best friend.

So, Dinah stomps over and crosses her arms, trying to look scary. “No, she’s not. She’s stupid, she went to the school for all the _retards_.”

When Lauren goes into hysterics, Normani keeps tight hold of her hand as she looks up at Dinah with a glare. “DJ! Don’t call her that, Lauren’s my friend!”

“You’re _my_ friend, not hers,” Dinah argues, “I don’t want her here! I told her to stay away from you, but she still hasn’t. She’s _stupid_.”

“No, _you_ need to stay away!” Normani shouts at her. “Unless you’re going to be nice, you’re not my best friend anymore.”

“You can’t do that!” Dinah glares at a crying Lauren, whose hands are over her ears and her eyes are screwed shut. She’s rocking backwards and forwards, whining and shaking her head. “She’s a _weirdo_ , look at her! You can’t ditch me for her.”

“Yeah, I can,” Normani argues, “leave us _both_ alone. And Ally, she told me about how you were mean to her. So go away until you’re going to be nice.”

With that, Normani pushes past her, helping Lauren along, leaving her by herself. Dinah collapses onto the ground and cries, both because she’s sad and angry. She’s sad because Normani is angry at her, and she’s mad because of that _freak_.

“I _hate_ her,” Dinah says to nobody in particular, “she’s so _stupid_.”

Dinah goes home angry that day, and decides that she’s going to get revenge on the girl who’s stolen her best friend.

-

Dinah spends her time at home that night, making revenge plots. Most of them revolve around stealing the girl’s Nala, because she’s clearly obsessed with it, and she’s in second grade, anyway. She doesn’t need to bring a stuffed toy to school. That’s for babies.

When her mom comes into her room and tells her that it’s her bedtime, she looks at Dinah’s plans and frowns. “What’s all this about?”

“Um…” Dinah shrugs. “Nothing.”

Milika frowns. “Dinah Jane, you’re not being a bully, are you?”

“No!” Dinah defends herself. “ _She_ is.”

“Who?” Milika sits down on Dinah’s bed, and screws the plans Dinah had written out into a tight paper ball, tossing it in the trash. “What’s been going on, Dinah?”

“There’s this new girl at school, and she’s a _freak_. She came from the special school, that’s what Ally said,” Dinah answers, “but she’s stealing Normani from me. And she can’t even _talk_ to her, she says like, two words. She’s so weird and I don’t like her.”

“You’re just jealous,” Milika informs her. “This new girl is making friends with your best friend, and you’re worried she’ll take her away. Right?”

Dinah shakes her head. “She _is_ taking her away!”

“Normani has been your best friend since your first day of school,” Milika says, “you two will always be best friends. But you’re both allowed to have other friends as well. And remember how scared you were on that day? Before you met Normani?”

Dinah frowns, not knowing what this has to do with anything. “Yeah? It was my first day, of course I was scared.”

“Exactly. And that’s how this new girl feels, but probably ten times more frightened. If what Ally said was true and she’s from the special school, she probably feels way out of her depth.” Milika says. “This girl has a disability, Dinah. How would you feel if you were different and someone kept calling you a freak?”

Dinah reddens and looks down in shame. “Bad.”

“Of course you would.” Milika continues. “Normani is probably the first friend she’s ever made, because when people are disabled, bad people aren’t very nice about it. This girl needs nice people around her, to be good friends for her. Not people bullying her and calling her a freak, and I didn’t raise my daughter to be a bully.”

“Mani is mad at me.” Dinah admits. “Because I- I called her a bad thing. I… I heard a boy calling her, um, a _retard_ , and… and I called her that.”

Milika sighs. “I’m disappointed in you, Dinah. But you can apologise to her and be a friend, like Normani is being. What’s her name?”

“Lauren,” Dinah answers, “and… and she’s scared of me. That’s what Ally said. I don’t think she’ll listen if I apologise. I don’t know what to do.”

Milika hums in thought. “Well, do you know any of her interests? Maybe you can invite her to do something?”

“Oh, she has a Nala!” Dinah says, and an idea comes to her. “I’ll take Simba to school and show her him. Maybe… maybe we can play.”

Milika pulls her in for a hug. “Now _that_ ’s my little girl. I’ll put Simba in your backpack for you.”

Dinah goes to sleep that night feeling a little worried, but hopeful. She’ll have Normani back by the end of the school day tomorrow, if everything goes to plan.

-

Dinah decides she hates school without Normani.

Her plan isn’t going very well, either. She’s kept her backpack with her in class, but every time she tries to approach Lauren, the green eyed girl runs away and cowers behind a glaring Normani. Dinah doesn’t want to show her Simba in front of Normani – even though Normani knows she has it, she doesn’t want her best friend to think that she’s just being nice for appearances.

(After her talk with her mom, she does feel really bad.)

Recess is lonely, because Ally is spending time with her friends in third grade, and Normani is probably busy with Lauren, which upsets her, because she misses her friends. Yesterday, she would’ve blamed Lauren for that, but she knows it’s her own fault because she was mean. She’s really glad she spoke with her mom last night.

After a few minutes of boredom, she glances around the playground to see if any of her casual acquaintances are there, frowning when she sees Austin and his friend pushing around someone who looks vaguely familiar.

When she gets a little closer, she realises that it’s Lauren, and without thinking, she runs over. “Hey! Leave her alone!”

That’s enough to scare Austin and his friend off, and Dinah frowns when she sees Lauren’s Nala left in a muddy puddle, soaking up all the dirt. She picks it up and brushes it off as best as she can, but she knows that it’s going to need to go in the laundry when Lauren gets home.

She’s quick to give Lauren her Nala back, and helps her up, not sure how to start conversation. So, she shrugs and says, “Austin is a jerk. I hate him.”

“I- um,” Lauren looks up at her in fear, “help?”

“That’s what I’m doing,” Dinah explains, trying her best to show she’s not going to be mean anymore. “Helping you. Because Austin and his friend were being bullies, and you don’t let your friends get bullied.”

Lauren looks up, surprise evident in her bright green eyes. “Friend?”

“Yeah. We’re friends.” Dinah confirms with a gentle smile, but then she notices the blood on Lauren’s knee and frowns. “Come on, Ralph, I’m taking you to the nurse to get a band aid, because your knee is all scraped.”

“I- I Lauren,” Lauren answers quickly, “Ralph? No.”

Dinah laughs, because Lauren _is_ kind of cute, after all. “I know your name is Lauren, duh. It’s a nickname. Like Ralph Lauren clothes. My mom has a Ralph Lauren shirt and it’s her favourite, my dad bought it for her on a birthday. Don’t know which birthday, though. But I’m going to call you Ralph.”

Lauren frowns at her as Dinah leads her through their classroom and towards the nurse’s office. “But- but… you- um, mean.”

Dinah pushes open the door to the nurse’s office and frowns when it’s empty. Lauren sees her frown, and her eyes widen, but Dinah quickly smiles at her and calms her down. “I’m sorry for calling you weird all the time, ‘cause I kind of thought you were. But then Ally told me that you’re from the special school, and that those kids aren’t-”

Lauren’s eyes widen as Dinah sits her down, and she shakes her head. “I- I, um, normal! Smart, too.”

“Ally and my mom told me that you were different. And that it’s okay that you’re like that and probably hard for you to start a new school like this.” Dinah tries her best to explain. “And that we need to protect you and look after you. Like sisters.”

“I- I-” Lauren stutters and wipes at her eyes, meekly adding, “normal.”

“No, you’re not normal. You’re like, special and stuff,” Dinah says, deciding that she’s going to make the other girl smile if it’s the last thing she does. She’s never seen Lauren’s smile before. “Not in that way, I mean, like in the way Mani, Ally and me are special too. That’s why you’re our friend.”

Lauren looks up shyly. “No more mean? Ever?”

“Nope. I’ll be like, your body guard or something.” Dinah brightly replies. “And if Austin and his dumb friend ever try anything again, I’ll beat them up and stuff. Like a ninja. Mani would help, too. Ally wouldn’t, she’s too nice and doesn’t like violence, but she’d shout.”

Lauren’s gaze is glued to her scraped knee, but then she asks something that makes Dinah grin. “Hug?”

Dinah pulls Lauren in for a bear hug, and she feels the girl shift a little, but she pats her back gently before pulling away and humming a tune to herself. Dinah remembers the whole Nala problem when she spots the dirty stuffed lion. “Hey, Ralph? We’ll get your Nala clean, too, just tell your parents and they’ll put it in the wash-”

“She,” Lauren interrupts her, “Need. For- for night.”

Dinah grins. This is the perfect opportunity. “Oh, well, I have a Simba! You can borrow him, I have him in my backpack because I was going to show you him today. But you can borrow him for tonight and give me him back tomorrow.”

Finally, Lauren smiles, and Dinah doesn’t know why she wasn’t trying to make her do that from the start, because it’s the cutest smile she’s ever seen. “Tank you.”

“You’re welcome, Ralph,” Dinah grins. “You, me, Ally and Mani… we’re going to be best friends forever, ‘kay?”

“Kay,” Lauren repeats, nodding, “best- _best_ _fwends.”_

Dinah smiles. “You’re really cute, Ralph. I’m sorry I… um, called you that bad word.”

Lauren frowns. “Huh?”

“The- um, the _r_ one,” Dinah murmurs, not wanting to say it again. “I’m really sorry, and- and if anyone else ever calls you it, I’ll make them say sorry, too. Because you’re my sister now.”

“’ister,” Lauren answers, but doesn’t say anything else, because the nurse comes into the room and she falls silent.

Dinah decides to do the talking. “Hi. Lauren’s knee is scraped up and she needs a band aid and a lollipop.”

The nurse smiles, and it doesn’t take long for her to patch up Lauren’s cut knee – Lauren wails a little when she sprays some disinfectant on it – but happily sucks on the lollipop she’s given for being brave.

Dinah gets a sticker for looking after her, but she gives that to Lauren, too. “That’s for being brave as well, so you can show your parents when you get picked up. You won’t be able to show them your lollipop, because you’ll have finished it.”

“Tank you,” Lauren murmurs around her lollipop when Dinah sticks the sticker on her dress. “ _’in-ah_. ‘ _in-ah_ friend.”

“You can call me DJ if you want,” Dinah replies, “that might be easier for you.”

“DJ,” Lauren decides, nodding. “Yes. DJ.”

“Dinah Jane!”

At the loud voice, both Dinah and Lauren jump, but Lauren clings onto Dinah’s arm in fright. Dinah spots an angry Normani, but this time, she smiles. “Don’t worry, Ralph. It’s just Mani.”

Lauren cheers up. “Manibear. She nice. ‘ike- ‘ike DJ.”

Normani stops in front of them with her arms folded across her chest. “Leave her alone!”

“No, Ralph’s my friend,” Dinah argues, “I said sorry to her and we’re friends now.”

Lauren nods in reply. “ _’isters_.”

Normani’s expression softens and she smiles. “Oh. Well, that’s okay then. I just didn’t want you to be mean- _wait, Lauren_ , where did you get that lollipop? I want one.”

“From the nurse,” Dinah answers for her, “her knee was cut and she got it for being brave.”

“Yes,” Lauren adds, “I _bwave_.”

Normani smiles. “Come on, Laur. Let’s go and sit in the reading corner.”

Normani holds out her hand, and Lauren frowns at it, before taking Dinah’s hand and walking towards their classroom. Dinah laughs at Normani’s jaw drop, but grabs her best friend’s hand and pulls her along with them.

-

“Honestly, we need to just… tell her to fuck off.” Dinah says as she walks into the art room, pissed off to the extreme. “You _three_? What a bitch.”

Normani frowns at her. “Um… what happened to you?”

“Not to _me_.” Dinah huffs as she sits down. “Lauren.”

“Is she okay?” Normani asks, and when the door opens again, glances over, her worry not subsiding when she realises it’s Ally. “Ally, have you seen Lauren?”

Before Ally can reply, Dinah shakes her head. “No, no, Lauren’s fine, she’s probably off doodling pictures of Camila with a bunch of hearts around them. It’s _Camila_ who I’m talking about.”

“Oh,” Normani frowns. “Is this about the whole ‘inviting us over’ thing?”

“Yeah!” Dinah says. “Like _you three?_ Are you fucking kidding me? She’s _not_ excluding Lauren.”

“Maybe she only said that because it was just us in the room.” Ally suggests. “Lauren wasn’t there yet, remember?”

“Ally, I love you, but you’re being stupid.” Dinah argues. “She didn’t say anything when Lauren came in, did she? _No_. And when I asked her, she looked so fucking fake. I’m done. Nobody is going to walk in here, exclude my best friend, and act like it’s fine.”

Normani nods in reply. “Yeah. You’re right. What should we say, though? It’s not exactly like we can walk over to her and be like _hey, mind fucking off?_ Maybe we should make Ally do it-”

“I’m staying out of it,” Ally replies, “while I agree that she needs to go-”

“What are you guys talking about?”

Dinah glances over at the door and sees Lauren stood there, looking at them in confusion. “It’s nothing, Laur-”

“Don’t do that to me,” Lauren meekly replies, “I- I want to know what you’re talking about. Who needs to go?”

“We’re going to tell Camila to leave us alone,” Normani answers, and Dinah sends her a _what the fuck_ look, because she knows that Lauren isn’t going to approve. “I know you’re going to be mad, but Laur… she’s really mean to you.”

“No, she isn’t.” Lauren folds her arms across her chest. “She’s- she’s nice. And I don’t- you’re not allowed to do that to someone. You can’t make her think she has friends and tell her to go away. You didn’t- you didn’t give up on me when you met me, and you can’t do that to her.”

“Lauren, she’s not even your friend, okay?” Dinah says. “She’s such a bitch to you. She was going to exclude you from the sleepover and she’s always really subtly bitchy towards you, and we’re not going to let that happen.”

“You weren’t my friend at first! You were mean, not even in a subtle way.” Lauren huffs. “I’m not going to let you make her leave. And- and I can be stubborn, when I want. So… give her a chance, and- and maybe she’ll be good.”

Dinah huffs, but eventually lets out a sigh. “Fine. But if she ends up hurting you, don’t come crying to me.”

They both know that’s not true. Dinah would be Lauren’s rock no matter what.

Either way, Dinah’s glad that Lauren is right about someone for once. And as she watches a giggling Lauren pull Camila out of their school auditorium on their prom night, leaving way earlier than most people would, she smiles after them. Because next to Normani, seeing happiness on Lauren and Camila is the most beautiful thing in the world.

**Author's Note:**

> im laurinah as fuck


End file.
